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TORONTO -- Alhamdullah. On Monday July 3, 2006 nearly 70 Canadian Muslims from Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, London, Ottawa, Montreal and Waterloo gathered at the Islamic Centre of York Region to generate a common strategy for the Muslim community in Canada.

The six-hour meeting, which took a 90-minute break for lunch and Zuhr prayer, was jointly organized by the Canadian Islamic Congress, Toronto Muslim Unity Group, and the Muslim Council of Montreal. Their aim was to create a forum through which the Muslim community's challenges could be identified, as well as to generate both short- and long-term solutions to these challenges.

Participants represented a broad cross-section of the Canadian Muslim community; Sunni and Shi’a, youth and seniors, men and women. Some came as members of the host or other organizations, while others attended out of personal interest.

Five speakers launched the event with prepared papers presenting their points of view about challenges facing the Muslim community and proposed solutions or plans to tackle them.

Those who attended were later divided into 10 discussion groups, each of which focused on the same two areas of concern -- the challenges facing Canadian Muslims today, and their ideas on short- and long-term action plans for the Muslim community. Each group then chose a spokesperson to present a summary of its discussion to a later plenary session.

After the lunch and prayer break, participants were presented with three summarized lists of material discussed by all of the groups and were asked to chose items that met with their majority approval. One list offered responses to the question, What Do You Think Are The Challenges Facing Canadian Muslims Today?; the second list outlined suggested short-term action plans; and the third focused on suggested long-term action plans.

Here are the three lists (items not in order of priority) that were approved:

I - Challenges Facing Canadian Muslims

1. Negative stereotyping of Muslims by the media.
2. Islamophobia.
3. The need for more integration; including removal of discrimination barriers against Muslims and by encouraging more Muslim participation in Canada's political process.
4. The effects of Canada's move toward the political right.
5. Internal divisions in the national Muslim community along lines of gender, generation, culture, wealth, ethnicity, language, religious practices, etc.
6. Improving the quality and quantity of Canadian Muslims who can successfully manage their economic, social and political environment.
7. A Canadian foreign policy that appears to be increasingly against the Muslim world.
8. The lack of consensus and community building mechanisms among Canadian Muslims.
9. The need for more Muslims in significant professions, such as law, journalism, etc.

II - Short-Term Action Plan

1. Rejecting media-imposed calls for Muslim "extremist/moderate" discourse.
2. Having more Muslim community media.
3. Sending more letters to editors and/or using Press Councils, etc etc as means to address frequent anti-Islam bias in the media.
4. Inviting more guests of other faiths to attend Friday prayers to make them more aware of Islam and Muslims.
5. Making a greater effort to defend and advocate for Muslim rights and responsibilities.
6. Encouraging greater participation in elections at all levels (federal, provincial, and municipal) and on government and professional boards.
7. Establishing a legal defense fund.
8. Training more Muslim representatives/spokespersons in how to use Canadian media effectively.
9. Enhancing Da’wa (education) efforts among Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

III - Long-Term Action Plan

1. Creating research-oriented "think tanks."
2. Making a greater effort to prevent the physical and mental ghettoization of Canadian Muslims.
3. Encouraging greater involvement of Muslim youth and women in the life of the community.
4. Fostering greater participation in and engagement with non-Muslim advocacy groups.
5. Encouraging more Canadian Muslims to take proactive ownership in Canada and its institutions.
6. Rejecting the perception that participation in Canadian political life is unIslamic.
7. Holding the government politically accountable for its actions at the ballot box during elections.
8. Achieving greater cooperation and collaboration among Islamic organizations.
9. Creating mentor programs, especially for Muslim youth and women.
10. Creating a Muslim School Board.
11. Striving for more Muslim unity on common causes.
12. Encouraging Muslim youth to choose non-traditional professional fields such as law, business, media, political science, etc.
13. Creating community service centres that serve the wider Canadian society, not exclusively Muslims.
14. Creating a national Zakah and donation agency from which resources can be made available for community projects.

The organizers of the meeting took it upon themselves to try to execute these action plans and urged other Canadian Muslim organizations to do the same. They also assured participants that they are willing to cooperate with Muslim organizations wishing to adopt any plans outlined during the evening.

[Sumaira Shaikh is a freelance writer. She lives in Toronto.]